


A New Beginning

by mhtun23



Category: Transformers (Bay Movies), Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Danger, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Roller Coaster, Epic Battles, Family Issues, Female Protagonist, Gen, Holoforms (Transformers), Hurt/Comfort, Later chapters are very emotionally heavy, Not Canon Compliant, Original Character Death(s), Peril, Protective Siblings, Psychological Torture, Self-Discovery, Self-Esteem Issues, Slow Romance, Slow To Update, Teamwork, Torture, Updating tags as I go, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-15
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:41:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26482837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mhtun23/pseuds/mhtun23
Summary: War tears people apart, no one can anticipate what happens. No one is ever prepared for what a war will bring. families get scattered. People get broken, nothing is set in stone. The things you know for fact and the things you believe you know are completely different. You can't for a second allow yourself to be fooled. War is dangerous, the world is dangerous, and in uncertain times, you must learn to adapt. Whatever that may mean.
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1

~Present day~

The crinkling noise of static broke the silence of the empty warehouse. In the middle of the room stood a woman, her hair a bright shade of white. The room was almost destroyed, a few people Were laying unconscious on the ground. It was utterly silent as the girl was looking around the various shelves that were still standing. The silence continued for a moment before the static noise returned, the woman rolled her eyes in a frustrated manner before she tapped her ear, a beep followed and she spoke.

"Slag it what do you want Ironhide?" She hissed aggressively

"Have you found the artifact yet?" A gruff voice, Ironhide, said in response.

"Want to know a secret, these things take time, Or next time we can put you in the blonde wig and let you infiltrate the warehouse to retrieve the tech you lost in the first place." She hissed

There was no response, instead, there was a click, signaling the call had been cut off. The woman again rolled her eyes. She spotted the object she'd come looking for, she didn't say anything as she grabbed it and jogged outside, she headed in the direction of a large black pickup truck. Parked just out of view of passerby's and out of view of the warehouse security cameras. She opened the back door tossing a dark bag into the back seat, she then slammed the door, much harder than was needed, before she climbed in the driver's side.

"You don't have to be so aggressive, it's uncalled for Lightrose." A voice stated, the voice seemed to come from the steering wheel, and despite there being no one else in the car the woman, Lightrose, didn't seem fazed.

"You don't have to be so pushy, rushing me to find the artifact, you know I didn't have to come along on this trip in the first place, your lucky I'm your sister, I have good enough reason to help you." Came to her response. The blonde wig and been pulled off by that point and a long mess of red hair flowed over her shoulders.

"If you didn't come on this mission you were going to have a train with skids and mudflap, don't try and trick me on what made you tag along." Ironhide pointed out.

Rose sighed and rolled her eyes, "just drive, we've got a six-hour drive back to the base, I'd like to get there before midnight tomorrow," she said.

Nothing else was said, seemingly out of nowhere the engine of the truck started and it drove off onto the road. The radio kicked on, playing a random rock song. Rose leaned back in the seat, she grabbed a jacket from the passenger side and pulled it over her like a blanket.

"Do me a favor and try not to get us pulled over?"  
The interior of the vehicular seemed to rumble, almost as if it were laughing. " no promises"

Rose felt a small smile cross her features before she allowed her eyes to slip closed. The radio turned itself down, the tune went to barley a whisper and before long a fresh sound filled the cab. Soft snores, coming from the young redhead.

Several hours later the truck was still making its way down the road. One of the windows was down, Rose was laying her head on the edge of it, her hair was out the window, it was being thrown harshly behind her, though she felt nothing, a soft sigh escaped her. Eventually, a voice spoke up to break the silence.

"Is there something on your mind?" Ironhide asked it was obvious to the red-headed female; who had somehow in the middle of the night migrated from the driver seat to the passenger seat, that he was concerned. The tone was obvious to her though most others likely wouldn't have picked up on it. Rose could sense it.

"I'm fine Hide, just a little tired still. Ready to get out and stretch," she said plainly. Ironhide was well aware of the fact that Rose wasn't giving him all the facts, but she did genuinely seem tired and the drive had been long.  
"We will be arriving at the base soon, ETA is roughly ten minutes," came his reply.

Rose moved her head from the edge of the window, almost immediately after she had it rolled up. She paid that no attention, pulling the visor down and throwing her hair up into a messy ponytail. The timing she'd been given earlier was accurate, within the next few minutes Rose could see the familiar compound pulling up in front of them. It brought a smile to her features, for the past several years the base had been her home. She had moved there not long after she ran into her brother, though the circumstances of their meeting up were less than pleasant. Still, none of that mattered to her now, she was happy to have a home and a family she felt she belonged with.

Upon pulling into the compound rose climbed out of Ironhide's alt mode, she went to grab her things from their place in the backseat. She suddenly became aware of something incoming, she could hear someone running up behind her, at an alarming rate. She quickly spun around to see who or what was heading her way, however she was seconded to late. A small weight hit her and caused her to stumble backward. Rose couldn't help the laugh that escaped her upon hearing an ever-cheerful squeal.

"Rosie, your back, I missed you," Annabelle: the young daughter of captain Lennox, a well-known man among the NEST agents; their leader. Annabelle, Annie, was a sister of sorts to Rose, they had essentially been raised together, and rose cared deeply for the young girl.

"Hey, kiddo, I'm back," Rose said with a warm smile. She leaned down and hugged the young girl, "what have you been up to, causing trouble?" Rose asked she had returned to her previous task of trying to unload her things.

Annie laughed "I'm not trouble, I was watching movies," She bragged happily, "will you watch movies with me?" She asked. Rose smiled warmly, "I've got the weekend off, your dad has some training stuff he's going to be super busy with, so I'm gonna watch you." Rose began to explain, "so that means we can watch as many movies as you want, but first I have to put my things away. Then I have to go to a boring meeting and tell my bosses about the boring mission I went on, but I promise we will hang out later," she assured.

Rose finished getting her things and watched as Ironhide transformed, she waved goodbye to the young blonde before going to Her debriefing.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A short fluffy kind of chapter, the beginning of the book is kind of slow it will pick up Ina few chapters. This is your warning.

The day was cool and bright, the sun was shining outside the military base. Rose was sitting on the couch, the young Annabelle was seated on the floor inform of it, various coloring books were spread out on the coffee table. On the television a movie was playing, Rose was leaned back against the couch and found herself singing along to the final song in the Disney film tangled. The redhead wasn't actually watching the movie, she was reading a news article on her phone, she had seen the movie enough times to know the words though. 

"Rosie, I'm bored," Annabelle had turned around and climbed up onto the couch. Rose looked at her, she seemed to think for a moment before coming up with a brilliant idea,

"why don't we play hide and seek?" She suggested with a warm smile. "There are lots of places you can hide," she said. Rose knew that Annie had a limited area she was allowed to play in however there was still a number of places the young girl could hide. 

Annabelle seemed to already have an idea in mind, immediately after rose stopped talking the young blonde told her to count to fifty, they kept the number there as it was presently the highest Annabelle could count to. 

Rose closed her eyes and began counting while Annabelle ran off. Rose opened he eyes after hearing her footsteps fade away. She leaned back and was looking at the roof as she continued to count, once she reached fifty she got up. 

Rose was cheating slightly, she could tell which direction the young child had headed in, due to her enhanced sense; one of the perks of being half cybertronian. Rose started walking, she noticed the path was familiar, she was heading the the autobots half of the base. She frowned a bit, that wasn't technically and area that Annie was supposed to be in. Also is would make finding her much more difficult. Rose looked around for a while until she heard a voice behind her, well not so much a voice as a radio. 

"What are you doing? Have you lost something?" Bee asked curiously. 

Rose smirked slightly before turning around, "I can't seem to find Annabelle, any chance you could help me locate her?" She asked. She was definitely cheating now. 

Bee did indeed help her locate the younger female. Rose rolled her eyes a bit after hearing where she was hidden. She thanked bee and jogged off. When rose got to the right room she didn't. Other knocking, not that she would need to as the door was wide open. 

"Hey, I heard from a little bee that a little girl was in here. Would you happen to know anything about that Ironhide?" Rose asked. She walked over leaning against the hood of his altmode, she heard an obviously fake snore. 

Rose rolled her eyes and walked around to the windows of her brothers altmode, she peeked in the windows before spotting Annie in the backseat. She opened the door, "I found you," she said with a smile. 

Annabelle frowned, "No fair, asking the bots for help is cheating," she complained 

"So is hiding in an area you know your not supposed to be in," rose pointed out. "Anyway I have a new idea for a game anyway, it will be a lot more fun," Rose said. "Come one, lets get you some lunch and then we can try out new..." she paused trailing off glancing at Ironhide, "arts and crafts project," she said with a smile.

Much later in the day, after Rose and Annie had already completed their 'art project' the two girls were once more seated watching a film. That time around it was Frozen, the two girls were giving a terrible rendition of Let it Go. Rose suddenly cut herself off. She could sense Ironhide starting to wake up from her end of the bond. Rose calmly looked around for a moment. 

"Hey Annie wait right here for a moment okay?" She asked. Rose hadn't really waited for a response before she jogged off a short distance, still keeping the young child in her sight. She had seen one of the soldiers, a familiar face, Robert Epps, he was good friends with Will and he didn't appear busy at that moment. 

"Hey Epps, I need a really quick favor," she began "Will should be on his way but could you watch Annie for a moment, I have to go do something....." she paused a moment before saying, "I need to go hide," Epps looked a tad confused, before he could question her however a loud booming voice sounded, very close by.

"LIGHTROSE!!!" The voice was instantly recognizable, Epps simply gave a nod. "Yeah, I've got Annie for a bit. You should find a really good hiding spot. I have no idea what you did but he's pissed." He said. Rose nodded and quickly patted his shoulder, "Thanks," she said before running off. 

Rose ran down the long winding halls of the base. Eventually she found her only possible solution, the only place she could hide within a short time frame and time was definitely of the essence. Rose made a sharp turn running directly into the Medbay.

Ratchet looked up from his work at the familiar hiding sound of the doors opening and closing, it took him a moment before his optics fell on Rose. "What bring you here, you don't appear injured or unwell." He said a bit perplexed. 

Rose was panting heavily from her run, "I need to hide.........Ironhide is after me." She said breathlessly. She wasn't genuinely frightened of her brother. It was a well-known fact that neither sibling would allow harm to come to the other. However they did have a tendency to get into....dangerous disagreements.

Ratchet let out a heavy sigh, "there are some supply boxes in the corner, hide there, and I'm sure I haven't seen you." He said with disinterest . Rose said nothing else and quickly ducked behind the boxes. There was silence for a bit before Ratchet spoke again. 

"What did you do to aggravate him this time?" Rose pokes her head out checking for her brother. "Annabelle and I turned him into sleeping beauty," she answered before ducking back into her hiding spot. Before ratchet could question further the doors opened again. 

A bright neon pink Ironhide stood in the door way. "Where. Is. She."


	3. Chapter 3

It Hadn’t taken long for Ironhide to find his sister. He had seen her run into the MedBay and Ratchet hadn’t extended effort in helping Rose hide, she had been found within minutes. As the result, she and Annabelle had helped to remove the paint from Ironhide’s alt mode. Rose did most of the work while Annabelle had spent more time playing with the water hose and talking excitedly with Ironhide and Rose about various things. Neither really minded since Annabelle was only nine, after all, her enthusiasm was rather adorable. Once the mess was cleaned up Sarah had come to get Annabelle for lunch and Rose and Ironhide had exchanged empty words, Ironhide a threat of 

“Don’t ever, do that again,” uttered with a forced glare that was as empty as the threat. To which rose had responded with an overly enthusiastic smile, 

“Never,” and with that, the siblings had gone their separate ways, off to deal with their regular duties around the base. 

In the weeks following The unapproved art lesson one would have assumed things would go back to normal, or whatever could be considered normal when you were in the midst of an alien civil war. Things however had not gone back to normal, it had been quiet, frighteningly quiet. No one knew what the Decepticons were up to and it was starting to drive everyone a bit crazy. The Cons would appear for a short bit of time and then disappear again. They had to be planning something, something big. 

Rose mused over the thought of what could be going on as she was working alone in the training room. The training was odd being as small as she was, though she was still stronger than the average human due to her cybertronian DNA. Rose couldn’t train with the humans and unless the bots were in the mood to train with their holoform she had a difficult time training with them too. Fighting for real was one thing but sparing was very different. Rose was practicing some stick fighting techniques. It wasn't the most useful skill against alien robots as big as buildings. It was more a hobby she'd taken up by choice. Rose was lost in her thoughts when she heard a voice. 

"You're letting your mind wander. Your off focus and your form is off," Rose sighed heavily relaxing her stance, she set one end of her large staff on the ground, she leaned on it as she looked at the source of the voice. The person appeared human, however, the familiar voice, the clear sapphire blue eyes, and jet black hair told her exactly who it was. 

"Any particular reason you decided to come to the training room with your holoform Ironhide?" Rose asked.

Her brother scoffed, “I thought you might like a training partner,” He stated plainly. As he spoke he made his way to the side of the small training mat, there was an umbrella stand sort of object that held extra sticks. Ironhide picked one up seemed to try to balance it in his hand, he then gave it a swift turn. 

"Unless your scared and don't want to face me," he said with a smirk. 

Rose rolled her eyes, "Me? Scared of you? Please." She said with an amused smile. Rose shifted so that she was no longer leaning against her staff, she began walking in a circular motion, "I'll even let you strike first," she offered.

the room went silent after that, Ironhide took the offer and opportunity, he swung the stick forward trying to throw the younger female off-balance. Rose quickly countered moving her staff to block the attack, within that same action she did a sort of twirl moving her staff with her to strike her brother's knee. Her attack landed Ironhide flinched though didn't fall. Rose then backed up allowing for another attempted strike. 

“You’re predictable, did you know that?” Ironhide asked as he moved to strike again, “you follow the same pattern every time and you really think you're ready for solo missions?” His staff swung towards Rose’s waist but she flipped her staff planting it firmly beside her blocking the attack. 

“Yes I do think I’m ready for solo missions, that’s why I practically begged for this recon assignment tonight.” Rose used her staff for balance and tried to kick Ironhide. He sidestepped and Rose fell to the ground. Rose swiftly rolled to bounce up onto her feet. 

“This is mildly embarrassing. The Decepticons know how skilled I am in combat. You as my sister are the comparison, you're weak.” Ironhide said as he moved to sweep Roses legs out from under her. 

She Jumped, “Don’t think that I don’t know what you're trying to do.” She said, Rose, moved backward walking in a circle keeping space between herself and Ironhide. She was trying to get a bit of a breather. 

Ironhide was well aware of what his sister was doing, and though he usually trained hard he was allowing her a small break. He looked at her, “what exactly is it that I’m trying to do then?” He asked.

“Your trying to get inside my head, but I’m not going to let that happen, I know you don’t really think that.” She said. Rose moved to make another attack, spinning her staff and jabbing forward at her brother. Ironhide grabbed the staff and yanked on it, pulling Rose to the ground. He pointed his staff at her placing it lightly on her stomach. 

“It may not have worked, but you still down, and I win.” He said with an amused smirk. 

"I deserved that, you can count your payback." She said with a slight laugh. 

Ironhide went to offer her a hand up, she gratefully accepted. She sighed softly and went to set her staff back in the holding stand. She sighed stretching a bit, she sat on a nearby bench getting out her phone. She flipped through her emails as she sipped some water. 

“As nice as it was to train with you, and hand you your defeat. I came here for a purpose," he said

Rose looked up a look of concern clear on her features. “What’s going on what’s wrong?” She asked

Ironhide sighed, "You’re not going on your mission tonight. The computer picked up a Decepticon energy signature and Optimus thinks it a trap. He's not putting anyone at risk." Ironhide said.

Rose's mouth fell open, "We need that energon, trap or no trap we were waiting for the proper tools to go retrieve it, and now we're just going to abandon it," she said. "That ridiculous, it's beyond stupid it's-" Ironhide cut her off

"Its orders. I'm sorry I know it's not what you wanted but to hear but it's true, the risk isn’t worth it. Optimus isn't putting anyone in harm's way for the tiny amount of energon it was." He said returning his staff to its holder and headed towards the door. “Your form is better you should consider getting more training in though, you were a lot more sluggish than normal.”He said before leaving.


	4. Chapter 4

Rose spent most of the afternoon in silence, rolling around her thoughts, the team needed that energon, but she had orders not to go. She was conflicted as she struggled to decide what to do. Rose had always been good at following orders, doing what she was told, the idea of stepping out of line made her feel nauseous. She asked herself the same question for the millionth time that evening. ‘How much do the risks outweigh the reward?’

This was the reason that in the very early hours of the morning Rose found herself in the main hangar of the Autobot base. Her eyes glued to one of the large computer monitors. The Bot in charge of Watching the computers, sideswipe, had wandered away for a moment, Rose had happily agreed to keep watch over the screen for a few moments, a few moments was all she needed. Once she believed no one was paying attention she pulled up the coordinates of the energon signature. A heavy sigh escaped her as she grabbed a pen from her pocket and began to scribble the points down on her hand, with the press of a button the map closed out and the screen returned exactly where sideswipe had left it. The young femme believe she was in the clear until a voice behind her spoke.

"what exactly are you doing Rose?" The voice was all to familiar to her, she closed her eyes letting out a heavy sigh, why had primus decided to send Will for intervention. Rose would have much preferred to face her brother, she jumped when she suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder. "Sorry, what did you need Will?" She asked.

"What are you doing, I saw the screen. I know Optimus pulled the plug on your mission, you're a good kid and not one to go against orders, you're too smart for that." He said, there was a clear look of confusion and disappointment in his features. Will had been like a father to Rose, she had known him for practically forever, it’s why Annie was like her little sister, the whole Lennox family was practically her family, Ironhide had even been adopted in by Annabelle not long after the two had met.

Rose could see there was also a look of deep concern on Will’s face, another heavy sigh escaped her as she mentally kicked herself. She hated the idea that Will was disappointed in her, and she hated to think she was making him worry, however the mission she was going on couldn't be seen as optional. It wasn't until the captain spoke again rose realized she once again had become lost in her own thoughts.

"Do you want to explain yourself? I could really use at least some sort of an explanation Rose.” Despite finding her in the middle of an act of obvious insubordination, Will’s voice was calm and gentle.

Rose frowned a bit not making eye contact, "Look Will, I know you and the others have heard,energon is really important to us, it's our food, our fuel, our blood even. Without it we could die and our supplies are running low. They are always running low, if there is energon at this site and I can get it we need it. No matter the risk." Rose explained, "I'm not asking you to cover for me or anything, you can rat me out to optimus now if you want, but just I have to do this." She said. 

She didn't wait for anything else to be said.  
The warrior then made a dash for the door, she quickly ducked out feeling the warmth of the night air surround her. She calmly made her way to where she kept her bike parked. Shoving the key in the ignition she started up the engine. She punched the coordinates into the GPS and then took off. 

It was roughly a two-hour drive from her current location to the site of the energon, by the time she had arrived it was almost day time, however instead of the sun it was a grey overcast of clouds, a light rain drizzling down on her head. She sighed heavily grumbling to herself, she had neglected to bring a jacket, the rain was mostly just annoying. She kept reminding herself the sooner she completed the mission the sooner she could get back to base. The warm dry base. 

The Autobot arrived at her destination, it was the middle of nowhere, she sighed as she reached into her backpack pulling out an energon scanner. She made her way into the trees. The forest was dense but at least now the trees were providing cover from the rain. She followed she signal on the device, she made it to a clearing, something wasn't right, she'd known this was likely a trap but it was too easy. Rose instinctively grabbed for her gun, she gripped it tightly pulling it from the holster. She was definitely on edge and it was for good reason. She scanned her surroundings cautiously, keeping her eyes peeled for absolutely anything out of the ordinary. Suddenly she heard a chuckle from above her.

"I do have to say, I'm disappointed. I had hoped the one they sent to investigate would be an Autobot worth my time, not one of their worthless human pets." Starscream sneered. 

Rose had pulled her weapon out keeping it trained towards a tiny opening in the canopy of the trees. "What do you want screamer," she hissed.

"I was hoping to take out a useful bot, however I suppose taking out their techno organic mascot would serve a purpose as well." He said. 

Rose was still trying to find Starscream, to get him in her sight line, however before she could take any action a sharp ping broke the night air, and a piercing pain shot through Rose's Abdomen. She dropped her weapon curling inward, her hands were shaking. 

"I must say though, you are hardly worth the effort, what threat do you pose." 

Rose could hear the familiar sound of someone transforming and then jet engines taking off, her hand came up to her stomach, she closed her eyes, her body trembled. She tried to reach in her pocket to get out her phone. Her hands were shaking, the device fell to the ground, when she tried to pick it up she crumbled. She laid on the ground in a curled up ball, the pain was immense, she should have seen this coming. 

Then in the middle of the forest, in the middle of nowhere, in the night air made cold from the rain, she was alone, warm tears filled the corner of her eyes, she gasped slightly as she cried silent tears, her vision was swimming the world faded in and out of darkness. She could loosely sense her brother though the sibling bond they shared. Rose closed her eyes, “I’m sorry,” she thought to herself. That was the last thought to cross her mind before everything went dark.


	5. Chapter 5

At the base the evening was moving along in an uneventful manner, most everyone was sleeping. Ironhide awoke in the middle due to a sharp burst of pain that shot through his spark, he jolted upright on his berth. What in the pit just happened, he found himself wondering. He couldn't focus for several moments, his processor felt fogged. what happened, he had been recharging, then the sharp sudden pain and woken him, with no way to have been injured, as well as no obvious signs of injury he was left to another conclusion, Rose. 

It was very well known that the bond the two shared ran deep, it was very common for the two of them to share each others pain. Whether it be emotional, or physical. Ironhide was aware that if Rose had suffered an injury it was likely he was feeling her pain. His mind had been slightly clouded still in a dazed half awake state, however the thought of Rose being hurt woke him up fully. 

The weapon specialist left hind room and headed towards his sisters personal quarters, thankfully due to her unique affiliation with the base it lied within the Autobots sector of the base. It had always made sense to her, as she's told the humans many times, she worked for the autobot cause not for the human military, most often just found it confusing, some didn't even believe her. 

Ironhide stopped outside Rose's door activating his holoform, he knocked. Being met with only silence from the other side of the door. Something didn't feel right. Ironhide felt a full nagging sense in his spark, a pulse telling him, 

"Something is wrong. Something is wrong." 

He knew the code to her door, he was one of very few others who she had granted that privilege. After a few moments of waiting in the silence Ironhide decided that best case of Rose was in her room he would find her asleep, but if something was wrong he wanted to know. He wasted no time pushing in the code for the door. When it opened he didn't immediately enter instead he called out for his sister.

"Rose, are you in here?" His voice kept a low volume, he don't want to disturb her if she was resting, however there was still no answer. Ironhide then walked into the room and flipped on the light switch. The room was empty, Rose's bed was made and aside from her belongings scattered about the night stand and a desk opposite the bed, the room looked untouched. 

A low frustrated growl escaped the battle hardened warrior, where in the pit had Rose gone and what kind of trouble had she gotten herself into. Ironhide left his sisters room shutting the doors he headed towards the main hanger of the base. It was there he spotted the human's commander. 

"Lennox, have you by any chance seen my sister?" Ironhide asked in a Gruff tone. 

Will immediately picked up on it, sure Ironhide was known to be grumpy but something about his voice gave will Aeneas that this was much worse. 

"Yeah, I saw her a bit ago, why what's going on?" He asked 

"I believe she could be in danger, or worse injured," he said. 

Will had kept his word to Rose, he had no intention of lying, especially not when she could be in danger. Will led his own troops and he wouldn't leave any of his own men stranded besides the Lennox family if a close connection with both Ironhide and Lightrose. 

"She went on the mission you guys told her not to, the coordinates she looked up should be easy to find," he said, there was a slight beat of silence, "I'll go and tell the medics to get the medbay ready,"

"Don't bother the humans, Rose is half cybertronian, they won't be able to do as much, have someone find ratchet." Ironhide had said quickly, he went to look up the coordinates from the Energon signal rose had been tracking. 

"What exactly does someone need to find me for?" A voice spoke up from behind the two soldiers. 

"Rose is likely injured, Hide is trying to track her down but we don't know what's going on yet." Will explained 

"I have a lock on her coordinates," 

"Bumblebee is in the area, it will be quicker to have him collect her than you going, tell him to bring her to the base. I'll have everything prepped by the time they get here." Ratchet said.

“He better be careful and he better find her,” no one missed the tension in Ironhide voice as he pressed his comm to call bumblebee. The warrior wasted no time in explaining the situation and made sure to tell Bee to move as quickly as possible. 

“You’ve done all you can do for now Ironhide,” ratchet spoke again. “The sibling bond you and your sister share is strong, as long as you can still sense her you know she’s alive. When Bee arrives I will do everything I can but all we can do for now is wait.” Ratchet said. 

The trio knew it wasn’t good news to hear, and Ironhide especially didn’t want to sit around and wait, but he had no other option. In all his time on the battle field he had learned, sometimes the quiet moments of a war are the hardest parts.


	6. Chapter 6

Movement caused Rose to stir, she had been fading in and out of consciousness, the first time she woke and felt movement she had, for the most part, been able to ignore it. Feeling the way she shifted from side to side, she wasn't sure where she was but she was no longer on the forest ground.

The second time she woke the movement was much sharper, she was going somewhere, and she was moving fast, all the commotion cause her side to burn, what happened, what was going on. She felt as if she were underwater, she could hear quick, urgent voices speaking around her. Behind her eyelids, she was met with a bright blinding white light.

"Tu..r..n.....of..f," she said, for a few moments she wasn't sure anyone had heard her. "Tu..r..n.. of..f... th. e. li..ght," she repeated

"I think she might be awake," voices still sounded distant and foggy but even then rose could still tell who was speaking.

"Rose? Lightrose, can you hear us?" 

Rose forced her eyes open, she groaned when light immediately hit them, she was obviously confused, she waved her arms feebly trying to push people away, trying to get up. someone pushed her shoulders down. the confusion and fear on her features was obvious. Will could easily recall the first time he had ever seen Rose in this sort of situation. She was only Sixteen when she had been pulled into the alien war. he remembered how after the first battle with the autobots, the incident in mission city, once they returned to a safe location, she had almost collapsed. She was so young then and even now she was just a few months past her twenty second birthday. Twenty two years on earth at least, she was still young, young and afraid. Will had been the on pushing Rose's shoulders back to the cot. At the same time will reached out and grabbed the young females hand. Will gave her hand a gentle, reassuring squeeze. 

"Calm down Rose, Breath, Your at the base. Your safe," he explained

Rose was breathing heavily, however feeling will squeeze her hand brought a wave of relief, she visibly relaxed slightly, obviously struggling less. she sighed a heavy tired sigh, her head slumped to the side, she seemed to be on the brink of passing out again. 

"You both need to leave." ratchet said sternly. "I'm going to do all i can , but i need to get her stabalized, you both need to go." 

"I'm not leaving, Shes hurt and i have no intention of leaving her side until i know she will be alright." this time it was Ironhide who spoke. he was getting ready to continue his protest when rose spoke. 

"I'll....be fine.." her eyes had slipped closed again, the voices once again becoming distant as she once again slipped into unconssioness.

When Rose finally woke again it was silent, save for the steady beeping of a heart monitor nearby. The young red head face scrunched up with a look of distaste and annoyance. She didn't want to be awake, she still wanted to sleep. A soft groan escaped the female,

"Can someone, please, make that stupid machine shut up," 

Rose hadn't realized anyone had actually heard her, so when the noise stopped she was a bit surprised. Almost immediately after the room went silent Rose could feel a hand brushing her hair out of her face, she heard someone say in a quiet voice. 

"Go find Ratchet please, or have one of the autobot's do it." There was a pause, Rose thought the voice sounded familiar. "I'll text my husband let him know she's awake, he's with Ironhide, I'm sure that Hide will want to see her." 

At that point Rose was almost certain who was speaking, none the less she decided to open her eyes. It was hard at first, bright lights shining above her made her want to keep her eyes closed. She blinked several times before a figure entered her field of vision. Unmistakable, Sarah Lennox. 

Rose blinked a few more time letting her eyes adjust to the lights, 

"Sarah? What are you doing here, I thought you and Annabelle would be at home? What day is it?" Rose asked many questions in a quick fashion. She was met with a gentle shush in reply. 

"It's Thursday, it's only around eleven, Annie is at school, the base, while out of the way, is a bit closer." She said, in between speaking she stopped, typing something into her phone. 

"You've been unconscious for a few hours, given the extent of your injury Ratchet thought it might take a while for you to come around. Your surgery went well though so there is a—"

"What do you mean what surgery?!?!" Rose asked shocked, she began to try and sit up despite pain that seared in her side. 

Sarah just shushed her gently again encouraging her to lay back down, the older female then began to gently stroke Rose's hair. She had done the same thing a Greta many times as comfort to her young daughter when she was sick. 

Rose would have been lying if she said it hadn't been a soothing gesture. The red head returned to her previous position and let Mrs. Lennox continue to explain. 

"It was bad Rose, Ratchet said it was tough and go for a bit but you did fine." She explained, "we weren't sure when you were going to wake up but Ironhide didn't think you'd like to wake up alone. He was very concerned," Sarah said with a light chuckle. 

"Anyway, Will and Hide asked if if would stay with you until they returned from patrol, since I was just going to go house work today and I was already out I told them I wouldn't mind." There was another short pause as sarah checked her phone. "Of course id never mind." She said setting the device down. "Your brother is on his way back," she said.

Rose was going to say something when Sarah's phone began to ring, simultaneously Ratchet walked into the Medbay. Sarah looked at her phone and then at Rose, 

"Are you gonna be okay all on your own?" She asked. Rose responded with a light smile and nod, Sarah smiled in return and patted Rose's arm before getting up to leave. 

"Will, are you and Ironhide on your way back?" She asked. 

Rose looked at ratchet she offered a smile, which was returned with silence. Ratchet didn't say anything as he began to run some scans, once finished he activated his holoform. Rose was fiddling aimlessly with her IV. 

"Don't touch that," Ratchet said, a sharp tone holding in his voice. Rose immediately, folded her hands in her lap. 

"I'm sorry," she mumbled softly. Once again there was no response. She sat in silence staring at her hands. Soon the doors to to the MedBay swished open, walking in was Sarah, Will, Ironhide, and Optimus. 

Rose bit her lip, 'oh shit, I'm in trouble now,' she thought to herself. Ratchet stepped to the side and deactivated his holoform as Ironhide spoke. 

"How ya feelin short stuff?" He asked, Rose was well versed with the nickname, Ironhide had given it to her years ago. However it wasn't a name she heard very often. 

"I'm fine," she heard a scoff from ratchet, "I feel fine, I'm a little sore but other than that..." she trailed off. 

"We are glad to hear that you are feeling well," Optimus said. "However, your act of insubordination can not go without being addressed." 

Rose was once again back to looking at her hands, she felt like a child who had been caught with their hands in a cookie jar. She felt a weight next to her, Sarah had sat down on the bed, she took one of Rose's hands giving it a reassuring squeeze. Rose let out a heavy sigh before speaking. 

"I'm sorry sir, I should have listened." She said. "How bad was it?" She asked glancing at ratchet. 

"The bullet missed all your vital organs, but it nicked an artery. It was lodged in your abdomen. One of the human medics assisted me in removing the bullet and repairing the bleeding." He explained. "You will be out of the field for at least a week while your injury recovers, no training either until your stitches come out." He said. 

Rose gave a slight nod, and turned her attention to Optimus, "I think it's safe to assume I'll be out of the field for longer than a week, right?" She asked.

"You went against orders, as punishment you will be facing a three week suspension, that will officially being once ratchet has cleared you,"

Rose gave a curt nod, Optimus by no means was cruel, so it wasn't that Rose was expecting some form of punishment that was far worse. It was just that to her, a three week suspension seemed incredibly lenient. 

"Very well Sir, I suppose I should thank you as well, for going easy on me." Rose seemed a bit sheepish as she spoke, not really looking up. 

"Insubordination is not tolerated however, despite your misguided judgment, your intentions were pure. Your an excellent solider Rose, and a good person. Though you needn't risk your life for everyone else. There is a fine and dangerous line between necessary risks and being reckless, your actions last night crossed that line." Optimus said simply. 

"I'm sorry sir, but I can assure you I won't make the mistake again," Rose said. 

"I trust you will have learned your lesson," Optimus said with a nod. 

Rose gave a nod, "definitely sir, and I'm sure I'll have learned it completely after three boring weeks of suspension." She said.

"I wouldn't worry too much Rose," Ironhide said with an amused smirk, "you'll have plenty of paper work and meetings to keep you busy, just no missions." 

Rose frowned letting out a groan, she should have seen this coming. 

"Let us leave Rose to get some rest, I'm sure she will need it to recover." Optimus said, with that the group left leaving Rose alone in the MedBay to get some rest.


End file.
